Body talk with Team Logue: Using fitness, tenacity, and teamwork in the fight against Breast Cancer

When nationally ranked bodybuilder and boxer Donna Logue was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in 2010, she made a promise to herself and her husband, Brian: That she would remain as active as she had been before she got sick. Amazingly, Donna says that she “went directly from chemotherapy to the gym.”

Now cancer-free, Donna uses the same resolve and devotion to fitness that helped her survive, for her work with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. At the Donna and Brian Logue Provincial Bodybuilding Championships, held June 23 at the Winspear Centre, the couple challenged fellow fitness enthusiasts to join Team Logue for the 2012 Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure, which will be held September 30 in Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Perhaps the most effective recruitment tool is the massive banner of Donna poised in fighting stance, looking anything but timid against a pastel background. Clearly, Donna is a woman who means business.

And the Alberta Bodybuilding Association is behind her, having chosen CBCF as their official charity for 2011 and 2012. On August 18, Edmonton will host the National Bodybuilding Championships, which will provide a perfect platform for the Logues and their mission.

“I don’t think you could find a better mate for each other than the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and the CBBF, the Canadian Bodybuilding Federation, (or) the Alberta Bodybuilding Association,” says Brian, who is also a premier bodybuilder. “When we went to (the CBCF Edmonton survivors`) banquet, the oncologist (said) that chemotherapy roughly ages a person thirteen years, and that could be reversed with nutrition and exercise. We thought: `Well, yeah. That`s pretty much a no-brainer. We’ve lived our whole life like that.` We thought: you know, for other people to know that would be amazing. That’s why we think it’s such a given that our athletes are part of this.”

When they debuted in 2011, Team Logue raised over $16,000 through the hard work of nearly 100 members. Ever the competitors, the Logues aim to do even more to help fight breast cancer in 2012. “This year we’re shooting for $25,000, and we’re shooting for 150 people to walk,” explains Brian. Team Logue is well on its way. With over 40 members from the bodybuilding community so far, they have already raised over $4,000.

The couple owes much to the tenets of teamwork, positive thinking and solidarity. “For recovery you have to have a positive attitude. That’s really a big portion of what we do in the sport,” says Donna. Whether Brian was rooting for Donna as she continued her strict fitness regimen while undergoing chemotherapy or whether Donna was helping Brian through his emotional struggle with her disease, they learned that achieving mutual mind-body support was crucial to recovery.

The Logues spread this message of resiliency through teamwork as spokespeople for Run for the Cure. “You want to give back. Awareness is so important, I think, people realizing that it doesn’t have to be all bad. It can be positive, too… I get a lot of e-mails from people wanting to discuss it. I think it’s good to tell them positive stories,” says Donna.

For more information on Team Logue or to learn how you can start your own team for CIBC Run for the Cure, visit cbcf.org

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Body talk with Team Logue: Using fitness, tenacity, and teamwork in the fight against Breast Cancer